One Arm Chin Ups : How to Do it?

If you want to get technical about it, a pull-up is done with a pronated (overhand) grip, while a chin-up implies a supinated (underhand) grip. A lot of people find that the pull-up is a more difficult exercise – this tends to be especially true for beginners.

The one armed chin-up is one of only a handful of bodyweight exercises that get a 10 for difficulty rating by unique bodyweight exercises. It is without doubt a daunting challenge and can take many months or several years to master but at the same time, it is also one of the most impressive physical feats you can achieve and if you do nail it, you can take comfort in the fact that you will be part of an elite group as only one person in every one hundred thousand can manage it.

When you do a one arm pull-up, however, there’s a certain amount of unavoidable rotation. This is why many of the people who can perform this feat will wind up bringing the bar towards the shoulder opposite their pulling arm.

First and foremost, if you can already do 5 pull-ups (i.e. palms facing forward; chin-ups are done with palms facing your chest and tend to be a little easier) or more, start to build your overall pull-up strength by adding weight to your 2-arm pull-ups (a weight belt, ankle weights, weight vest, or carefully loaded backpack are all options here) until you reach a weight that you can do for several sets of 2-5 repetitions.

ike many things in life patience is the key to mastering the one arm chin up. It can take months or years to achieve so do not rush through the different progressions and do not train for it more than 2 or a maximum of three times a week as rushing the progressions or over training almost always results in injury.

When doing negative reps you need to lower yourself down under control and very slowly. Take at least 5 seconds from start to finish and pause at different places on the way down if possible.

The more muscles you can tense, particularly your abs and butt cheeks the easier it will be.

The natural inclination of your body is to turn away from the bar so use your free arm and shoulder to turn in to it (imagine your body is a human cork screw and you will get the idea)